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Oops. So, I’ve been using the newest M12 Fuel hammer drill a lot lately, and I didn’t realize it was in hammer mode.

Oh, I felt it in hammer mode. I thought, wow, this is some weird wood. Why is the drill bit plunging forward as it drills across grain barriers?

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With the newest M12 Fuel hammer drill, shown on the right in the above photo, switching to hammer mode is done using the electronic clutch dial. I’m used to hammer drills with the mode selector elsewhere, as with the previous generation M12 Fuel model. Shown on the left is the previous generation M12 drill/driver. The hammer mode would be on the separate black banded drill/driver mode selector.

For the past couple of projects, I used the M12 drill for drilling holes, and a Hitachi 18V brushless impact driver for driving in screws.

It was maybe the last wood project, on Thursday?, when I could feel the hammer mode. The drill pulsed forward through the wood, almost gently. Maybe the drill bit was getting a little worn, or there were small knots hidden in the wood, or some strangely hardened growth rings.

Nope, the drill was in hammer mode.

I finally realized it when I went to drill through a steel angle, for mounting a power switch box to my router table. I used a transfer punch to mark the hole locations, and then used a center punch to deepen the marks a little.

I started to drill, and the drill bit bounced around a little. What? Why is the drill skating on the material, it’s steel, but not hardened tool steel or anything like that. I started my holes and was using what I felt to be appropriate drilling pressure.

Because the drill was in hammer mode! I switched it back, and then proceeded to drill my two holes.

Later in the day, I used the drill for a quick countersink task, and realized it had again switched itself to hammer drill mode. Argh!

The first time, maybe I had inadvertently dialed past drilling mode the last time I switched from a numbered clutch setting. But I would have noticed the hammer mode during the next few applications and projects. The second time? I guess I wasn’t careful enough in my handling of the drill?

Generally, I have always steered away from hammer drills, unless I know I had some masonry drilling to do.

I probably should have realized what was going on, but I guess I forgot that I was using Milwaukee’s M12 Fuel hammer drill, which was included in a kit with the new impact driver.

Despite this frustration, I do still like the M12 Fuel hammer drill. I like that it’s smaller than the original M12 Fuel drills, and powerful enough that I rarely reach for a heavier duty drill. The 1/2″ chuck has come in handy, too.

I don’t think I’ll ever make the mistake of inadvertently using the drill in hammer mode again, but I also don’t want to have to check the drilling mode all the time.

I’ve been using the M12 Fuel hammer drill for months now, and this hasn’t happened before now. Maybe I ran into a string of bad luck. I hadn’t adjusted the clutch dial in a while. It was only with my recent projects that I started working back and forth between the M12 drill and Hitachi 18V impact driver. I had used the M12 drill back and forth with an M12 impact before, but the recent projects saw the clutch dial untouched for much long spans of time.

So, what’s the point of all this? Well, I can’t be the only one whose drill changed modes on them, right?

I marred up the powder coat on one of the steel legs of my router table. No big deal. Maybe this post will help prevent one person from marring up something a lot more valuable, or worse – something a lot more valuable and visible in a client’s home or business. Can you imagine if you skip your bit while drilling a new large cabinet door for drawer pulls?

I chalk this up to user error. The clutch dial has a satisfying feel to it, and so it’s not slipping because it’s loose. Switching to hammer drill mode is different than on other models, and ultimately, it’s my responsibility to not lose sight of that.

Did you not hear it rattle like an ticked off snake? I have the first gen fuel hammer drill and the hammer function is VERY loud! or is the gen 2 just much quieter? To me it seems like you would have notice quite a racket.

I’ll add your foible to my list of reasons why I prefer not to use hammer drills.
For me they are too slow for most tasks.
To be fair, I have 2 (7/8 and 1-5/8) cordless rotohammers and a bigger (2-1/2 inch) corded one – so I’m kind of covered.

Stuart, you take responsibility for misusing the tool, which is the adult thing to do. But I do think the Milwaukee’s design bears a bit of responsibility. For one thing, they changed how Milwaukee drills are switched to hammer mode. I think I would expect different brand to operate differently, but within one brand, I expect things to stay more or less the same. The old and new drills even look very similar, so I wouldn’t necessarily notice which model of Milwaukee hammer drill I am using.

Second, I think the drill shouldn’t be switched to hammer mode by turning a continuous adjustment (the clutch ring) to the last notch. That would be like pressing the gas pedal in a car all the way down to switch into reverse. The clutch ring sets the amount of slip. In the old drill (and I believe most drills), to get zero slip, i..e, drill mode, you just zip the ring as far as it goes. To stop at the second-to-last setting is clumsy and surprising.

I think hammer drills need a separate switch to set hammer mode. In fact, if I had my way, the drill would say “Hammer time!,” start playing “Can’t Touch This” and pop a pair of parachute pants out of the handle. 😀

Your other comments I find very agreeable. This reminds me of people getting in to trouble with the gear selector in some cars, because they went and fiddled with how it works, so people wind up leaving their vehicle in neutral and getting run over when they think it’s in park. Danger abounds when bucking convention, particularly if it’s too close to similar but different functionality that’s commonplace.

Your gas pedal analogy reminded me of how some arcade racing games work. Gas pedal is go forward, brake pedal eventually starts accelerating you backwards once you stop. I always thought that was a weird/bad idea, but then again I don’t play those games.

It’s a design compromise. Having the hammer mode selector on the clutch dial allows for a shorter tool, and it might also allow for greater sharing of components between drills and hammer drills.

I wouldn’t quite say that I misused the drill, it was more an issue of being a little oblivious.

If this was “my” drill, there would be little chances of this happening again. But as it’s one of several that are rotated for testing purposes, if I continue to leave the clutch dial untouched between uses, there’s a chance that it will happen again, and I will forget that it’s a hammer drill with hammer mode right next to drilling mode.

It really seemed like something worth mentioning. It seems obvious, but maybe sharing can help some readers. As an analogy… don’t cut jalapenos without wearing gloves. Seems obvious, but a lot of people still learn this advice the hard way. Will cordless drill designs changing, I can’t be the only one to screw up in this way.

It makes a lot of sense to do it that way, though. The clutch numbers only really apply when in drive mode; they don’t apply when drilling/hammer drilling. So having the settings spread across two separate rings, when one of the interfaces can make the other one irrelevant, does make sense from a design point of view. The problem is that most hammer drills have separate controls, so it can be confusing based on what people are used to. They should at least do something like make the drill/hammer drill indicator more obvious.

I agree with you, it’s a design flaw. Not a big one, but it’s a flaw. Born probably from the compromises needed to cut costs, or from the redesign of the tool.
Anyway I have the old one, I’ve used the hammer mode just a couple of times while doing masonry, for sure I would never enter the hammer mode by mistake, although I have the habit of checking the setup of any tool before using it (maybe quite a bit odd, I know).

Or you can get the reverse and catch people forgetting to use the hammer function. A local contractor was impressed with my SDS drill, that he bought the same one. At some point working on another thing he ended up borrowing my SDS drill, saw him struggling … have you tried the multifunction switch? Try hammer + drill!
The switch is underneath the unit and I had it in chisel mode from my last task … but you’d think, it’d ring a bell why it isn’t drilling when you purchased the same tool!

First let me apologize for taking this a little off topic but the title reminded ofan issue with my M12 Fuel hammer drill. Recently I was using my fairly new fuel hammer drill. While trying to drill a1/2″ hole in some 1/4″ plate steel, I pulled the trigger, the battery indicator flashed and the drill stopped. After pulling the trigger three or 4 times it started, ran for maybe 10 seconds and stopped again. Pulled the trigger several times and it stopped again. After two minutes of trying frustration got the best of me and I finished the hole with my Hitachi. Anyone else having the same problems or did i just waste my money on this?
Thanks for any replies.

There’s one of two things I’d be betting on. First (and kinda of most obvious) is that it’s got an almost entirely drained battery in it -it’d also be possible that it had a (broken) dead / dying battery. And secondly, that the tool was just at the edge of thermal overload and not happy

I’m torn about the new Fuel M12. I like being able to switch from a clutch to screwdriving mode by the collar instead of turning the selector half way round…but every once in a while I find myself in hammer drill mode. The sound and vibration is a dead giveaway but its annoying when it happens. I would have immediately bought the Gen 2 Fuel drill driver if it had the black collar like the gen 1, it’s not like I use the hammer function on the M12 very often, mostly I switch to M18 for a hammer drill.

Which is why pros ask …” Why are you buying a hammer drill?” … literally no one I know uses a hammer drill…
The M12 sds is very small and it’s the right tool to use …plus a drill driver is lighter without the hammer function..
… upgrade to a small sds and be amazed what the right tool can do and how much faster it is, thus solving all problems.

If that was the case then all the big stores would be carrying drill/drivers instead of hammer drills in their kits and bare tools.

I live in Florida, a ton of homes here are cinder block. A hammer drill is fine for cinder block, no need for a special tool that is going to sit idle for years. I can’t tell you the last time I drilled into the concrete at home and I do a LOT more home improvement work than most people…On site, is a different story but guess what…most people that buy tools don’t use them professionally.

An item that you mentioned in the article was that you constantly adjust the clutch setting attempting to always use the correct torque for the job. In that scenario, one can easily see that you would move the selector to “hammer” and not realize it.
I, and many others I would think, use either “drill” or “hammer” exclusively and could really care less for the different torque settings.

This week i just picked myself a twin compact impact driver and hammer drill. Like the OP. im experiencing the same thing. Im drilling into a skirting panel and i was 100% sure its in simple DRILL mode. My first cycle was smooth then i backed out as i needed a longer bit. My 2nd time in either from the increased power and torque kicked the dial over to hammer or operator error and switched it when i was changing the drill bits.. but because of the hammer my first drill in shredded the edges around my 10mm hole up. Wrecked my job. So far ive encountered it twice.. to me it feels like the hammer drill is clicking over itself.. as ive used many many drills and impacts and its never happened.. weird that its happening now and reading the OPs thread about going through the same issue totally reassured how i feel i feel about it. I think its when you grip your hand around the chuck and dial just becareful not to slip the dial as its pretty sensitive and smooth.

I have a Milwaukee Fuel M12. It seems to be stuck in hammer drill mode. I’ve tried rotating the clutch – still hammers. I reread the instruction booklet – nothing. Any suggestions. I’ve used a number of different combination drill/hammer drills and I’ve never had this happen before. I bought the Milwaukee last year and have been using it for a while and this just started happening